FEBRUARY 29, 2012 AT 5:47 PMBY GEORGE HUNTER THE DETROIT NEWS
Grosse Pointe Park— Michigan State Police have completed their forensic examination of blood, hair and other evidence taken from the garage of murdered marketing executive Jane Bashara, a police source told The Detroit News.

Police searched the Bashara home twice in the days after the Jan. 25 murder.

After the first search, investigators removed computer hard drives and other materials, while the second search focused on the garage, where evidence technicians removed blood and hair samples, according to multiple sources.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS First Posted: February 29, 2012 - 4:18 pmLast Updated: February 29, 2012 - 4:18 pm
PHOENIX — Jurors have begun deliberations in the case of an Indiana man accused of forcing his grandsons on two grueling hikes in the Grand Canyon last summer.

A clerk at U.S. District Court in Phoenix says the jury was given the case late Tuesday afternoon and started deliberations Wednesday morning.

By Associated PressWed 03:14 PM 02/29/2012
Attorneys for the Kansas man accused of killing a 14-year-old Great Bend girl are seeking to close a pretrial proceeding during arguments over several motions.

Thirty-eight-year-old Adam Longoria faces trial March 26 on charges of capital murder and other offenses. The Great Bend man is accused of killing Alicia DeBolt, whose charred body was found in August 2010 at the asphalt plant where he worked.

Updated: 9:34 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012 | Posted: 5:54 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012
SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — The body of Seminole County firefighter Jerry Perdomo has been found in Maine in a wooded area, according to WFTV reporter Jeff Deal who is at the scene.

On Wednesday, WFTV obtained the charging affidavit of the Maine man arrested on murder charges in connection to the death of Perdomo.

Lester Waters Jr., 47, and Michael Spell, 22, appeared in District Court for their arraignment. A trial date was also set for both men.

This was the suspects' second court appearance in Montana after being extradited from North Dakota to Montana on February 14. This time around, however, the courtroom was filled with spectators.

Security was increased at the courthouse floor because of the sentiment in the community. Many are outraged over allegations that the men - allegedly high on drugs - kidnapped, killed, and buried the 43-year-old teacher and mother of five children and stepchildren.

02/28/2012 | Allison Jones, The Canadian Press
Crown and defence lawyers will begin picking a jury Wednesday from a pool of 116 people who remain following the first stage of jury selection in the trial of a man accused of killing an eight-year-old girl.

Michael Rafferty, 31, is charged with first-degree murder, sexual assault causing bodily harm and kidnapping in the death of Victoria Stafford.

Tori disappeared while on her way home from school in nearby Woodstock on April 8, 2009, and her body was found three months later.

Terri-Lynne McClintic, now 21, has already been convicted of first-degree murder in the girl's death.

February 28, 2012By Jeff Lehr
The trial of a man who 9-year-old murder victim Rowan Ford knew as “Uncle Chris” is set to begin Monday in Rolla in front of a jury being selected this week in distant Platte County.

Jury selection began Monday for the trial of Christopher L. Collings, 37, of Wheaton.

Collings and Ford’s stepfather, David W. Spears, 29, are charged with the rape and strangling of the girl in November 2007. She was abducted from her home in Stella, and her body was discovered about a week later at the bottom of a sinkhole in McDonald County.

BY CHRISTINE BYERS
CLAYTON • The attorney representing a St. Louis County mother accused of killing her 13-month-old son then trying to make it look like he was abducted is asking that the murder charge against Shelby Dasher be dismissed or that her bail be reduced.

Dasher, 20, has been jailed since Nov. 16 after she was charged with second-degree murder of her 13-month-old son, Tyler. She is held on $500,000 bail.

By Kristen Leigh PainterThe Denver Post
BRIGHTON — A preliminary hearing date for Doris Becky Trujillo — the grandmother charged with killing her 4-year-old grandson Gabriel Trujillo — has been set for May 3.

The courtroom was filled this morning with many of Trujillo's family members who appeared to be in support of the grandmother. After the hearing date was set and Trujillo was being returned to jail, people sitting in the courtroom waved and blew kisses to her.

When Kim Rollins' son asked for a pair of scissors to take to school a few weeks ago, she was heartened that the fourth-grader, diagnosed with an autism-related disorder, was excited by a class project.

No, Sage Rollins explained, he didn't need the scissors for a project. He wanted them so he could cut a window in the cardboard box his teacher sent him to sit in.

Los Angeles (CNN) -- Officials have ruled the death of a 10-year-old girl who got into a fight last week to be a homicide, authorities said Monday.

Joanna Ramos, a fifth-grade student at Willard Elementary School, died of blunt force trauma to the head six hours after an altercation with a female classmate that lasted less than a minute, said Long Beach Police spokesman Sgt. Rico Fernandez.

By Associated Press, Updated: Tuesday, February 28, 3:33 AM
BILLINGS, Mont. — Family and friends of one of the two suspects in a brutal Montana kidnapping described him as an illiterate young father who was eager for work when he fell under the sway of a convicted criminal promising lucrative work in the Bakken oil fields.

Court documents filed by the prosecutor in the case indicate 22-year-old Michael Spell of Parachute, Colo., has confessed to his role in the crack-fueled abduction and killing of 43-year-old Sherry Arnold of Sidney, Mont.

Stathis Kirkpatrick is accused of killing 14-year-old Kailee Clapp. The teen's burned body was found the evening of Jan. 21, 2011, in a Bartley cemetery. She had been reported missing that morning from her McCook home.

Kirkpatrick has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and three other felony charges.

Posted: 10:04 a.m. yesterday Updated: 7:36 p.m. yesterday
RALEIGH, N.C. — Defense attorneys on Monday painted a starkly different picture than prosecutors did of Jason Young's reaction to his pregnant wife's beating death more than five years ago.

He had just finished a business trip when he arrived at his parents' home in Brevard, N.C. on the afternoon of Nov. 3, 2006.

Michelle Young – five months' pregnant with their second child, a boy to be named Rylan – had been found dead hours earlier inside the couple's Raleigh home. Their 2-year-old daughter, Cassidy, had been hiding beneath the covers on her father's side of the bed.

By Jane Musgrave, The Palm Beach Post8:55 p.m. EST, February 27, 2012
One of the key questions swirling around two multimillion-dollar civil lawsuits filed against Michael and Carole Merhige is whether they were the de facto guardians of their 35-year-old, mentally ill son when he opened fire on family members at a 2009 Thanksgiving dinner in Jupiter.

5:23 PM, Feb 27, 2012 Written by Jeffrey Wolf
NORTHGLENN - The two children who were injured when investigators say their father set their house on fire are still in critical condition, as is their father, the family said Monday.

The fire broke out last Thursday at 26-year-old Bill Johnson's home in Northglenn. Firefighters pulled Johnson, a 5-year-old girl and a 16-month-old boy out of the fire and they were taken to the hospital.

First responders also took out a dog and the family announced on Monday that the dog, Dean, did not survive his injuries.

A close family friend says the 5-year-old girl is severely burned and now has pneumonia. Her 16-month-old brother suffered smoke inhalation.

Johnson is considered to be in custody for investigation of attempted homicide, domestic violence and assault.

By KEITH PHUCASPosted: 02/27/12 08:03 pm
COURTHOUSE — At a pretrial hearing Monday, the husband of a woman accused of smothering a baby two decades ago testified he wore a wire to record a conversation with his ex-wife, Melissa Haskell, but did not coerce her into making a statement that she allegedly killed the child.

Haskell, 38, formerly of Pottstown and Bridgeport, and most recently of the 700 block of Pershing Street in Upper Merion, is charged with third-degree murder in connection with the Aug. 26, 1992, death of 5-month-old Ryan Baurley at a Swedesburg home.

Published: Monday, February 27, 2012, 4:56 PM Updated: Monday, February 27, 2012, 5:07 PMBy SARA GANIM, The Patriot-News
Jerry Sandusky, through his attorney, is asking that his May trial in Centre County on child sex abuse charges be moved to July.

In a motion filed to the court today, attorney Joe Amendola says there is a "great volume" of material for him to process in preparing Sandusky's defense to more than 50 charges involving 10 children.

Posted: 11:35 a.m. Monday, Feb. 27, 2012
LILBURN, Ga. — The trial began Monday for a man accused of using an adult diaper to suffocate a Lilburn businessman.

Demarcus Crawford is one of four people charged in the death of 51-year-old Tedla Lemma. Prosecutors said Crawford and his accomplices robbed Lemma and suffocated him in 2008. A man identified as the crew's leader is serving a life sentence in prison.

By Jessica FenderThe Denver PostPosted: 02/27/2012 01:57:19 PM MSTUpdated: 02/27/2012 02:06:54 PM MST
State mental health evaluators have found the man who pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the murder and dismemberment of a Denver teen competent to stand trial.

By DAPHNE DURETPalm Beach Post Staff Writer
WEST PALM BEACH — Prosecutors and defense attorneys have reached a plea agreement in the first-degree murder case of the Wellington man who killed his wife and twin sons two years ago as the family was sinking deep into debt.

Neal Jacobson, 51, is expected to enter the plea before Circuit Judge Stephen Rapp this afternoon. Palm Beach Public Defender Carey Haughwout filed a notice with Rapp last week saying there was an agreement in place.

WTVA-TV in Tupelo reports that the body of 21-month-old Mobley Robinson was found Sunday afternoon in Pontotoc County. According to WTVA, the sheriff says the child's body was found in a culvert near the family home and that no foul play is suspected. An autopsy is planned.

By Mitch Hotts
Weeks of speculation over who killed Jane Bashara might come to a climax this week as investigators expect to receive results of lab tests on materials found in the garage of the Grosse Pointe Park home she shared with her husband.

Grosse Pointe Park police and Michigan State Police Crime Lab technicians combed the Bashara household for a second time on Feb. 8 as part of their homicide investigation and reportedly found hair samples and suspected blood in the garage.

While the State Police Crime Lab is backed up with other cases, Grosse Pointe Park police sent their materials to an out-of-state facility to be researched.

02/27/2012 11:01 AMBy Globe Staff
State Police will use side-scan sonar in the Chestnut Hill Reservoir this morning as they continue to search for a missing Boston College student last seen at a Cleveland Circle bar.

Franco Garcia, 21, was last seen by friends Wednesday morning at Mary Ann’s, a Boston bar long frequented by BC students.

State Police divers will board a small boat today and drag a side-scan sonar device through the reservior. If any objects are spotted, then divers will be deployed, State Police said.

By Bianca Prieto, Orlando Sentinel10:22 a.m. EST, February 27, 2012
Five more victims of Boy Scout leader George Fout came forward this weekend, accusing the self-described 'monster' of sexually attacking them.

Marion County Sheriff's Office is creating a task force to investigate the sexual attacks, and believe more victims could be out there. Fout is currently suspected of attacking six boys.

Fout, 25, was arrested last week after he confessed to attacking Boy Scouts for several years in Ocala, according to the Sheriff's Office.

By Janelle Jordan, Reporter Last Updated: Monday, February 27, 2012 7:25 AMBANGOR, Maine --
Maine State Police said foul play is suspected in the disappearance of Seminole County firefighter Jerry Perdomo.

Monday, Perdomo's wife is expected to speak for the first time about the case.

The 31 year old has been missing since Feb. 16, after he travelled to Maine.

A house owned by the father of Daniel Porter, who was questioned by police, was also searched as part of the investigation and evidence gathered will be analyzed at the State Police crime lab.

By Veronica M. Cruz Arizona Daily Star | Posted: Friday, February 24, 2012 5:05 pm
The death of 21-month-old Za’Naya Flores in January was due to malnutrition, the Pima County Medical Examiner’s Office has determined.

Za’Naya was taken to University of Arizona Medical Center on Jan. 12 after the Tucson Fire Department received a 911 call that she was having a seizure at her home in the 1800 block of South Kitt Place, near South Alvernon Way and East 29th Street, according to the Tucson Police Department.

She was pronounced dead at the hospital.

According to the autopsy report, Za’Naya weighed 14.6 pounds and her organs weighed below average for a child her age.

Published on Monday 27 February 2012 15:40
A Huddersfield mother has been found guilty of child neglect after her two-year-old son died after drinking poisonous plant food.

Bradford Crown Court heard Lauren Booth, 24, was growing cannabis in her home in Norris Close and was using pH Up brand plant food, commonly used in hydroponic growing.

The court heard she was asleep when her son Aaron drank the toxic liquid just after midday on November 6, 2010. She denied wilfully ill-treating or neglecting her son but was found guilty by a jury after two hours of deliberations.

JAY REEVES, Associated PressUpdated 02:59 p.m., Sunday, February 26, 2012ATTALLA, Ala. (AP) — Savannah Hardin's life was in turmoil long before police say the 9-year-old was run to death by her grandmother and stepmother for allegedly lying about some candy she ate.

Divorce and custody documents filed in family court over a period of several years reflect a history of fractured family relationships, with Savannah's divorced parents fighting over her welfare; claims of mental instability and abuse between her father and his second wife; medical problems that required frequent doctor visits; and counseling for the girl who still somehow managed to remain among the top students in her third-grade class.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS First Posted: February 26, 2012 - 12:00 pmLast Updated: February 26, 2012 - 12:00 pm
NORTHGLENN, Colo. — Authorities say a suburban Denver man suspected of setting his home on fire with his two children inside remains hospitalized, as do the children.

Northglenn Police Sgt. Ron Haralson says the three were in critical condition Saturday evening but, for now, no additional information will be released. Firefighters rescued 26-year-old William Johnson and his 5-year-old and 18-month-old children from their home early Thursday morning.

Prosecutors said Lori Drew, 49, used the social networking site MySpace in 2006 to create a fictitious online profile of a young man who flirted with 13-year-old Megan Meier. Ms. Meier killed herself after the fake boy said the world would be better off without her. Prosecutors suggested that Ms. Drew – along with her daughter and a coworker – created the profile to see if Meier was backstabbing her daughter.

In another court maneuver and attempt to keep Elizabeth Johnson in check, a clinical liaison has been appointed to make sure the mother of missing “Baby Gabriel” stays on her medication so she remains competent to stand trial.

Yet, the beginning of that trial, which was supposed to start early last month, remains at least seven months away.

Johnson, who has been charged with kidnapping, child abuse, and custodial interference, is scheduled now to go to trial in September. Since her arrest in 2009, Johnson has remained incarcerated in a Maricopa County jail on a $1.1 million cash bond. In a case that has received national attention, Johnson has both said she killed her son and gave him to a couple she didn’t know in San Antonio.

RALEIGH -- Defense attorneys for Jason Young will get their turn Monday to begin calling witnesses as they work a second time to counter prosecution claims that the medical software salesman murdered his wife.

Wake County prosecutors rested their case Friday afternoon, bringing to a close 15 days of testimony in Young's second trial, which was somewhat different strategically from the first trial. That trial ended with the jury deadlocked 8-4 for acquittal.

Prosecutors sharpened their focus this time on Young's financial motive, on his decision to wait until the first trial to provide an account of his whereabouts, and on some inconsistencies between that testimony and law enforcement evidence.

By Jaclyn Kelley Story Created: Feb 22, 2012 at 11:35 PM ESTStory Updated: Feb 24, 2012 at 5:33 AM EST
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Despite objections from the Prosecutor's Office, a Niles man walked free on Wednesday, even though some fear that he is a dangerous man.

Randy Jones pleaded guilty to one count of a felony residential entry charge and one count of invasion of privacy. However, against the prosecution's objection, Judge Roland W. Chamblee, Jr. released Jones from jail to walk free until his sentencing in April.

Created: February 25, 2012
SAN FRANCISCO -- A convicted serial killer described in chilling detail how his friend raped and killed a woman in 1998, a victim of the so-called "Speed Freak Killers," an Oakland television station reported Friday.

BY JULIE MURPHY, STAFF WRITER February 25, 2012 12:30 AM
PALM COAST -- Randy Canady stood at his daughter's casket and stroked her hair, as he had no doubt done innumerable times during her lifetime. Other family members and close friends sat silently, except for a sniffle or a sob, during visitation Friday at Craig Flagler Palms Funeral Home, comforting each other with an arm draped over a shoulder or the squeeze of a hand.

Stefanie Merrill, 30-year-old mother of two small children, will be buried today at Flagler Palms Memorial Gardens after being shot to death by her husband Tuesday as she was watching their 3-year-old daughter, Moriah, take a bath.

Canipe requested additional time to consider the plea offer. His last court appearance was two weeks ago.

On Aug. 13, 2009, authorities responded to the Laurel Hill apartments located at 1526 Eaves Road. Canipe told authorities at the scene he found Lilly Willover, 2, unresponsive in a bathtub. Police said Canipe was watching Lilly while her mother was at work.

By Willard Shepard | Friday, Feb 24, 2012 | Updated 12:26 AM EST
The twin victims of the Barahona child abuse case have taken the state and its contractors to federal court, in what childcare advocates say is a bold effort to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.

A lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida names Victor and Nubia Barahona as plaintiffs, even though Nubia, 10, was beaten to death just over a year ago. Her body was found in a trash bag in the back of her adoptive father’s pickup, and her twin brother Victor, who was in the front seat, barely survived after getting severe chemical burns all over his body, authorities said.

Their adoptive parents, Jorge and Carmen Barahona, have pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.

February 24, 2012 3:12 PM
(CBS/AP) SANTA ANA, Calif. - A Southern California man has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for killing his girlfriend's 9-month-old son by repeatedly slamming the child's head into the wall to get him to stop crying.

Orange County prosecutors say 20-year-old Alexander Lucas Barnes was convicted by a jury of second-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death. He was sentenced on Friday.

Posted Friday, Feb. 24, 2012BY JESSAMY BROWN
The extradition of the Fort Worth mother accused of kidnapping her daughter was delayed this week when the van she was riding in hit a deer, a worker with the transport company said Friday.

Kimberly Ann Fields, 42, also known as Kimberly Smith, is being extradited to Texas from New Mexico to face a charge of aggravated kidnapping. She was discovered Feb. 12 with her 11-year-old daughter Jessica Smith at the edge of a New Mexico forest nearly a week after the girl was reported missing from her north Fort Worth home.

Sandra has been charged with murder, kidnapping, abduction, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse in relation to the disappearance and murder of her daughter-in-law, Summer Cook Inman, in March 2011. Sandra’s husband, William, and son, William II, face similar charges.

In November, Hocking County Common Pleas Court declared Sandra competent to stand trial, but the issue of her sanity at the time of the alleged offenses had not yet been determined. Thursday, Hocking County Common Pleas Court Judge John Wallace ruled Sandra was sane at the time of the alleged offenses.

ATTALLA, Ala. — Savannah Hardin's life was in turmoil long before police say the 9-year-old was run to death by her grandmother and stepmother for allegedly lying about some candy she ate.

Divorce and custody documents filed in family court over a period of several years reflect a history of fractured family relationships, with Savannah's divorced parents fighting over her welfare; claims of mental instability and abuse between her father and his second wife; medical problems that required frequent doctor visits; and counseling for the girl who still somehow managed to remain among the top students in her third-grade class.

BANGOR, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- A woman from Bangor says that missing Florida firefighter Jerry Perdomo was staying with her before he dissappeared and that they had a relationship. Perdomo, who is from Orange City, Florida, was last seen in Bangor on February 16. The next day his rental car was found abandoned in the Walmart parking lot on Stillwater Ave.

A woman who has been talking to police about his disappearance talked with a news crew from WESH, the NBC affiliate in Orlando last night. The crew was working on the story in Bangor, when she approached them, asking if they had any information about the case.

The Merced County Sheriff's Department believes Sarah Wade, the 14-year-old girl missing from her Livingston home, is with her 17-year-old boyfriend, Christian Graham, who has also gone missing. Detectives think the couple may be in the Modesto area.

Wade was reported missing late Wednesday night after she went to give her horses water on her family's ranch and didn't return. The Sheriff's department conducted a search of the area Wednesday night and Thursday.

A bad boy who was left with half a head following a dramatic accident has spoken out for the first time - blaming his astonishing appearance on a booze and drugs binge. But it appears he himself has yet to change his way.

Carlos 'Halfy' Rodriguez, who also goes by the name Sosa, lost a large portion of his brain and skull in a crash after flying through his car's windscreen and landing head-first on the road.

The car, which was parked in a St. Clair Shores lot for weeks before it was impounded about 2:30 p.m. Thursday, is registered to the victim's husband, Robert Bashara, who was called a "person of interest" in the case by Grosse Pointe Park Police Chief David Hiller.

Handyman Joe Gentz, who performed odd jobs at some of Robert Bashara's rental properties, told police his boss paid him less than $2,000 to kill Jane Bashara and dump her body in a Detroit alley to make it look like a carjacking, according to police sources.

Two and a half weeks after Charlottesville Circuit Court Judge Edward Hogshire banged the opening gavel in Case No. 11-102, Commonwealth of Virginia vs. George Huguely, a jury of five women and seven men found the former University of Virginia lacrosse player guilty of second-degree murder and grand larceny. For his crimes, the jury sentenced Huguely to 26 years in prison. He had been charged in the beating death of his on-again, off-again girlfriend, Yeardley Love. The 22-year-old Maryland woman, also a UVA varsity lacrosse player, died in the early morning hours of May 3, 2010. Huguely, from Chevy Chase, Md. was the only suspect. Within days of his arrest, his lead defense counsel, Francis McQ. Lawrence, termed Love’s death a “tragic accident.

DAYTON, Texas – Some of the biological children of a Liberty County woman whose 11 grandkids were removed from her home by CPS last month were speaking out Thursday about why their mother lost custody of them nearly three decades ago.

A relative of one of the suspects in the Savannah Hardin murder case responded to the events surrounding Savannah's death in a statement sent to Fox6 reporter Ronda Robinson. The relative spoke on behalf of the family and asked to not be identified.

Joyce Garrard and Jessica Hardin have been charged with murder in the death of nine-year-old Savannah Hardin.

A group of 12 jurors convicted George Huguely of second-degree murder and grand larceny Wednesday and recommended a sentence of 26 years. Ian Glomski is one of those jurors, and he spoke to the Newsplex about the trial that rocked Charlottesville.

Ian Glomski spends most of his days in a microbiology lab at the University of Virginia, but over the past three weeks he got to know the most intimate details of George Huguely's and Yeardley Love's lives. Glomski says being on the jury was the most difficult thing he's ever done, but he feels at peace with what the group of 12 decided.

Jessica Jaglois: After spending three weeks on the George Huguely jury, how does it feel the day after the verdict has been read?

Late today Dani V. Bone, the attorney for Joyce Hardin Garrard, the grandmother of Savannah Hardin, released the following statement: "Joyce Garrard, like the rest of the family, is grieving the loss of their precious Savannah. Ms. Garrard, has been falsley accused of causing Savannah's death.

In a waiting room at a Winter Haven office building, the DeJesus brothers were being prepared for a visit with their parents, both of whom had lost custody of the children amid allegations the couple had repeatedly molested them. The toddler clung to his foster mother like a lifeline.

“They had to pull [the younger boy] from my arms,” the foster mom said this week in an interview with The Miami Herald. “They ripped them away from us to take them in there. They were screaming, and Jeshiah was crying.”

DELRAY BEACH — A 17-year-old Delray Beach girl's text messages to her mother that she had been abducted were a hoax, police said Thursday.

When Delray Beach Police detectives confronted Jade Beneby, an Atlantic High School senior, with inconsistencies in her story, she ultimately confessed Thursday afternoon to having gone voluntarily to a Hialeah motel with a "young adult" she met online the night before, said police spokeswoman Sgt. Nicole Guerriero.

Detectives believe Beneby lied in the text messages out of fear of "her maybe getting in trouble," Guerriero said.

AP) - A funeral will be held this weekend for a 16-year-old girl whose body was found in a barrel in western Arkansas. Authorities found Angela Allen's body last week after she was reported missing earlier this month. Prosecutors have charged 36-year-old Lloyd Jones in her death after authorities say he met Allen online and Allen's body was found on land owned by Jones' brother. Jones has pleaded not guilty.

EAGLE POINT, Ore. (AP) — Last weekend, 14-year-old Ashley Long told her parents she was going to a slumber party. But instead of spending the night watching videos and eating popcorn two blocks away, she piled into a car with a bunch of her friends and rode to a condo in Medford, Ore., where police say the big sister of one of her friends was throwing a party with booze and marijuana.

After drinking on the drive, and downing more drinks in the condo, it came time for Ashley to take her turn on a tank of helium that everyone else was inhaling to make their voices sound funny.

Phoenix police arrested a fifth person on allegations of child abuse related to a child whose death in a footlocker last summer shocked the Valley.

Ammandea Joann Stoltzmann, 24, was arrested early Thursday on suspicion of abusing Ame Deal, the 10-year-old girl who was found dead in July, padlocked in a 31- by 14- by 12-inch footlocker in a South Phoenix home.

A Phoenix police spokesman said Stoltzmann's arrest was not directly related to Ame Deal's death but for a variety of other alleged instances of child abuse that involved the girl.

PORT ORCHARD, Wash. -- Crying and wearing an orange jail jumpsuit, a 9-year-old boy stood before a judge who will ultimately determine whether the third-grader will face criminal charges in a school shooting that left a young classmate critically wounded.

Authorities say the boy brought a .45-caliber handgun he got from his mother's house to an elementary school in Bremerton on Wednesday, and the weapon discharged just before classes let out.

During the boy’s preliminary hearing on Thursday, the boy sat next to his father, who put his hand on the child's back and rubbed it.

POSTED: 11:38 am MST February 22, 2012UPDATED: 2:19 pm MST February 23, 2012Arthur Kane and John Ferrugia
DENVER -- The state’s child welfare ombudsman says she wishes she had heard about the Caleb Pacheco case before it was too late.

Becky Miller Updike said she doesn’t know if it would have saved the child, whose body was found under the trailer where his mother lived, but it would have given Caleb a chance to be saved.

BY JON SEIDEL Sun-Times Media February 23, 2012 12:52PM
A private security firm is dropping its lawsuit against the parents of murdered 3-year-old Riley Fox.

Will County Judge Michael Powers agreed Thursday to dismiss Kevin and Melissa Fox from the case. He did so at the request of National Investigators & Security Agency Inc., which sued the couple last year over allegedly unpaid bills related to the Wilmington girl’s death.